Stablecoin issuer Circle has expanded the operations of its USD Coin (USDC) by launching it on the Polkadot network. This move increases the availability of the USDC token to 14 blockchain networks, including Ethereum, Solana, and Avalanche. Circle announced this development in a blog post on September 19, stating that developers and users of the Polkadot network can now access the USDC token without the need for a bridge.
Polkadot USDC is issued on the network’s Asset Hub, which is a specific parachain serving as the “homebase” for all assets in the Polkadot network. The Asset Hub facilitates the creation, management, and transfer of digital assets across all parachains within the Polkadot ecosystem. With the issuance of USDC on the Polkadot Asset Hub, the stablecoin can easily move to other parachains using the XCM protocol, which is Polkadot’s native cross-consensus messaging format.
Björn Wagner, co-founder of Parity Technologies, the company behind Polkadot, expressed excitement about the launch of Polkadot USDC. He highlighted the significance of stablecoins in on-chain economies and emphasized the boost in liquidity and institutional access to the Polkadot ecosystem that this move will bring. USDC, issued by Circle, is the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, following USDT, which has already been issued natively on Polkadot’s Asset Hub.
However, it is important to note that Circle accounts and Circuit API will only support Polkadot USDC that is natively minted on the Asset Hub. Users must transfer USDC from their Circle account to the Polkadot Asset Hub before moving it to another parachain using XCM. Similarly, all Polkadot users need to transfer their USDC through the Asset Hub to a Circle account to avoid potential asset loss.
This latest expansion of USDC on the Polkadot network is part of Circle’s ongoing efforts to increase the token’s presence across various blockchains. In September alone, Circle launched USDC natively on four other blockchain networks, including the Near protocol, Noble blockchain, OP Mainnet, and the Coinbase-developed Base network. These integrations are welcomed developments that could help boost the adoption of USDC, which has seen a decline in market share since the beginning of the year.
As of now, USDC remains the second-largest stablecoin with a market cap of $25.51 billion. However, this value has decreased by 41% compared to January, according to data from DeFiLlama. Despite the decline, the expansion of USDC onto multiple blockchains positions it for continued growth and adoption in the future.
Sources:
– Circle’s blog post: https://bitcoinist.com/circle-launches-usdc-stablecoin-on-polkadot-network/
– DeFiLlama: https://bitcoinist.com/circle-launches-usdc-stablecoin-on-polkadot-network/
– Image from CoinMarketCap, chart from Tradingview.
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